After 40 years, Gremlins remains one of the darkest Christmas movies, but it would have been much darker if writer Chris Columbus had his way.
While reflecting on his 1984 Joe Dante-helmed holiday horror, Columbus recently said the final cut was “plenty dark” but recalled who died in the original script, whether or not Gizmo turns into a Gremlin and other plot details.
“I think the dad stayed behind and fought the Gremlins, I don’t quite remember if he survived,” he told Vanity Fair. “The mom certainly didn’t. Billy [played by Zach Galligan] ran into the foyer of his house, and his mom’s head came rolling down the stairs. So there were some deaths. And Barney the dog was not so lucky to just be hung up in the Christmas lights. He was actually hung up by his neck and died. We killed the dog!”
Columbus, who serves as a producer on Nosferatu, added, “They ate him! Then they went into McDonald’s and ate the people—but not the food. We had a lot of things that didn’t make the final script. Honestly, that stuff is in my DNA, so it is a joy to come back to something like Nosferatu.”
The Oscar nominee explained that he was too young in his career to push back against producer Steven Spielberg and tell him the movie needed to be “as violent as possible,” noting that Spielberg came up with one of the most crucial changes to the script.
Phoebe Cates in Gremlins (1984)
“He was absolutely right,” said Columbus. “Gizmo turned into a gremlin on page 30 and did not remain [soft and cuddly] throughout the entire film. That was one of Steven’s best ideas—that Gizmo remained by Billy’s side. He knew this and I didn’t: The audience needed someone to relate to in terms of the gremlins, and that was Gizmo.”
Meanwhile, there was one part of his script that Columbus fought to keep in the film. “We were plenty dark, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “We ended up with the story of Phoebe Cates’s father dying in the chimney, and the studio wanted to cut it. Steven and [director] Joe Dante and I fought for that. That was one thing I did fight for at the time.”
Following the 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the Max animated series spinoff aired its second season The Wild Batch in October.